Well, the lobby also could record successfully joined and downloaded people. If one got all installed successfully it could return a true to the lobby. A failed could then send a false. Servers with more trues than falses might be labled with good getMod reliability. Not an entirely save system, but helpfully.
It also would help admins to figure out issues they might not find because they can join without issues.
Yeah, great idea like many others....but are we just talking in the air or someone from ISI is reading and taking note to plan it in a future release? Just ideas wont get us anywhere. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
I have a question which fits the discussion. If a modder uploads a component with the new Launcher, will this component automatically be getmod enabled? If this is true, then the solution is already there.
What a pity, this should be the next step. When a modder uploads a component, add getmod URL if there isn't already one in place. Otherwise this would be wasted resources, because ISI already provides a central place to download mods.
The problem is ISI isn't actually hosting the actual components. When a modder submits a component they are simply providing the component details and a direct download link to the component. So it's the modder who actually hosts the file. So ISI doesn't really have direct access to the file to be able to rewrite the GetMod URL. ISI could however start a public GetMod service similar to mine. They could then tell modders what link to put in their component before submitting the component. So for example: http://getmod.rfactor.net/noelhibbard/getmod.php Then then when you submit the component and direct download link, ISI would put it in their content database but also pair your ISI account name, component sig and download link for GetMod.
The way it works right now is you select an rfcmp file. It reads all the details about the component. Then you paste a download link for your component. The Launcher then does a URL check to be sure you didn't post a random link to a website that returns HTML. If the link proves to be a direct link then it submits the component. You can go back and edit the download link at any time after publishing it. So if you move your component to another host then you can go back and update your registration. So most of the framework for GetMod is there. We just need a GetMod URL to place in the components that points to this database. If this ever happens then my GetMod Manager and service wouldn't really be needed anymore.
Just a thought, could you guys extend the rfcmp format to include whether it's league or open session, an image of a set size and html containing a description and links to content if they feel unable to getmod it (ie payware)? My thoughts on this being that then the matchmaker has a split between league and open (select in UI) with leagues showing a funky image describing the content with number of drivers and ping in a box below. Also it would be nice if one added description fields (not sure if these exist already but if not they should) for each of the mods referenced, indicating the car and the name of the mod or the track or similar, so that it's possible to include that information in the matchmaker and include it in filtering, that would also be nice. See my mockup at http://i.imgur.com/wKGV8Ci.png (can't show it in-page for whatever reason). Re the mock-up, the filters button should open a dialog listing filters based on car and track metadata, session name, etc and order the same. The information (i) button for each session would open up a dialog containing the html I referred to earlier, rendered. The image shown (presently saying Pitlanes Clio Cup) should be the image included in the RFCMP. Just putting some thoughts out there. Curious to see what people think. PS Apologies for any ugliness, it was thrown together in about 30 minutes and I'm a terrible artist.. plus more demonstrating layout and concept than final look.
Well cars, tracks and vmods all a a description field on them which could be used for any text you want. The problem is this field isn't submitted when the server advertises to the MM. I wouldn't think it would be that hard to add that field to the advertisement. Adding it to the UI is another story. There is already a lot of data in the MM that isn't actually exposed to the UI. For example the list of driver names who are currently on a server. B1K3R has exposed most of that though in his server browser. Now that he implemented the join button in his tool, I don't see why anyone would bother with the built in MM anymore.
Correct me if I am wrong but I have skimmed over every page of this thread and failed to see one notable thing people seem to have have overlooked between the two sims "Dirt based communities" I don't know how many of you actually indulge in the dirt style, speedway aspect of sim racing but a quick look around you'll notice one major difference they are completely non existent in rf2. No Sprintcars, No Latemodels, No Midgets, No Modifieds, No UK Speedway content, No NZ Speedway content nothing it's all completely absent from rf2 and whether people like to admit it or not the dirt based communities certainly in rf1 make up a very large share of online servers and or leagues. Now I can speak on this as a modder myself having created multiple dirt based mods for rf1 the simple fact is a viable alternative for us is yet to be created, found, implemented that give's dirt based modder's a genuinely decent base model to work with and the amount of time and effort to try and muddle our way through the complicated tire configuration in rf2 to develop anything that even comes remotely close to what we already have simply out weigh's the small graphical enhancements we would gain. For the present time rf1 is still our best dirt/speedway simulator until a viable alternative is found but as always the dirt communities are completely overlooked by sim makers so we are left with the painful task of trying to convert yet another tarmac game into a viable dirt alternative which is easier said than done. So just casting another perspective on the situation that could also go to explain the big difference in online numbers between rf1 & rf2 however in saying that from what I've witnessed the large majority of tarmac "Sim Racers" have already moved on to other titles unfortunately for us dirt "Sim Racers" we don't have that luxury.... yet!
Yeah, people jump up and down about missing features and overlook the complete lack of features for certain types of racing that certainly were (and obviously still are) very popular in rF1. I am curious though, it's hard to tell obviously but do you think if you could manage to make up good tyres in rF2 it would provide at least as good an experience as rF1? And would FFB improvements be something that would translate well enough to dirt to make the jump worthwhile? (from a tarmac racing point of view, it's difficult to imagine going back to rF1 almost purely from an FFB point of view, but actual tyre behaviour as well of course). As a league we're using graphics that really aren't much of a step up from rF1 (lack of scratch built content suitable for the series in rF2, so we convert what we can find for private use) apart from recent improvements in the overall look of rF2. I'm guessing it might be difficult to improve tyre behaviour over rF1 when making a realistic tyre probably highlights the lack of dirt dynamics in the mix...
It certainly has the potential to be better yes. Obviously the tires are only one aspect of it and with the recent implementation of the contact patch for the upcoming Nascar mod it now has even greater potential than it did before given how the tires now react to a banked surface like most speedway tracks etc so it's a step in the right direction however dirt tires have completely different slip curves and reactions to what a tarmac tire would have in similar circumstances and unfortunately the data of which is not as readily available again increasing the difficulty of recreating a realistic model. Other advantages that would help enhance the experience would be the likes of the sound reverb from the concrete walls, animated flag marshals, and certainly real road could provide a different experience even if it's just visual more so than dynamic the potential is there. I personally don't think the FFB translation raise's an issue in the respect if the physics of the car in question are crap for what ever reason there's only so much the FFB improvements can add to help improve the situation however if the physics were on point the FFB improvements should translate just fine and would certainly be another benefit to making the switch. As you mentioned graphically albeit HDR aside there wouldn't be much of a step up for the fact most content would inevitably be converted rather than scratch built but that's just a sim, modding problem in general of taking the easier route etc and not just limited to dirt and or tarmac. Exactly!! As much as I hate to bring up other studios work Reiza in this area are making great steps to venture outside of the typical "Sim Racing" norm with GSCE and the future implementation of Rally X and Stadium Trucks, Both of which will require some insight into dirt physics of sorts thus forming a base model and the inclusion of "dirt pickup" onto the body work is also a nice touch that will further enhance the experience with conversion of content not raising too much of an issue they are certainly taking the right steps to encourage dirt modders to look in their direction.
Rehashing an older topic here... I jumped on rF2 this morning to see what was going on. I see about 116 people on in total across all the servers which were populated. This got me to thinking, "how many people are online on rF1 right now?" So I fire up rF1. After a count of the online players I come up with a count north of 230 players. Double the players on rF2. Just for grins I counted the total number of online players in servers not requiring booking at Assetto Corsa. 190. What is a person to think about this? This is only a one time count and to really extrapolate any useful data I would have to look at server populations across many times and days. However, it does seem fitting for the information gleaned at this post. I am curious how the server populations for rF2 have improved over time. Especially given the recent uptick in positive re-reviews and comments on popular sim racing sites. I have a group of friends that I have been racing with at simraceway for a year and a half or so. Simraceway is dying and they are no longer offering competitive servers for people to race against each other now. So I have been trying to convince the guys to pick up another sim to take the place of our Simraceway time. I got most of them to agree to pick up 3 months of iracing for $9. That time is almost up and none of them want to invest any more money into it. (I don't blame them, it is very expensive) The choices are obviously between rF1, rF2, and AC. (PCars is a steamy pile of doo and not even considered for this group) We briefly looked at Stock Car Extreme and decided against it. One of the guys said that he wanted to be able to go online, as racing AI is not his cup of tea. I agree with him 100%. Unfortunately, at the time of the conversation, I had to recommend AC since I was under the impression it had the most online racers. I gave him the caveat that he would be racing the same 3-4 tracks most of the time since populated AC servers typically dont run modded content. To counter the lack of content in AC I suggested rF1. It has boat loads of modded cars and tracks. The downside is that the game is very hard to get setup correctly and trying to get into a server can be an exercise in frustration due to the mismatch of content. Also trying to find the content that a server is running can be difficult at times. rF2 has largely fixed this issue with the getmod feature but it does not always work and the available content is still far behind rF1. Also there is the problem of empty servers as noted in the above population count. To add to the problem the guys I race with are cheap as all get out. Their machines are old and several of them cant run rF2 demo so it may be a moot point anyways. In the end I think I will recommend rF1 and I'll simply put up a server with the content that our group wants to run for that evening. If they can run Simraceway, they can run rF1 no problem. Several of the guys use controllers and don't have wheels so fiddling with FFB and realfeel wont be an issue. Content, when it can be found, is free so the cheapest of our group can't cry about money. At least I can get these guys hooked on rF1. Maybe they will be moved to pick up rF2 and get better machines in the future when the online (pickup) racing is stronger. FYI - our group usually runs 0400-0800 GMT. Not the peak of the sim racing times to be sure. So what does all of the above have to do with rF1 vs rF2? I suspect that many leagues and groups have similar conversations regarding rF2 and the choice to move to it or not. There is no question in my mind that rF2 is, hands down, the best sim on the market. But trying to get past all the other variables can be the sticking point.
